


How to survive the apocalypse; A guide by Bang Chan

by lalazora



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: And a bit of humor, Angst, Angst and Humor, Apocalypse, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Minor Character Death, Violence, for cause of the apocalypse but nothing too descritptive don't worry, still for cause of the apocalypse, this is a major Chanlix fluff fic wrapped into a apocalyptic scenario
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-12-27 17:49:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21122798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalazora/pseuds/lalazora
Summary: The guide Bang Chan really would have appreciated having BEFORE the apocalypse knocked at his door.(or how Chan wrote numerous steps to survive the apocalypse and managed to respect none of them)





	1. Step 0 (prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo guess who's back once again o/!
> 
> I'll be short: I'll try to update often, but don't except anything :,).
> 
> I still don't know how many chapters this fic will have, I guess around ten. Chapter length will also vary, I try to not put myself barriers those days concerning this, it tends to block me a whole lot ahahaha. 
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this story :)!

_ Step 0: Don’t ignore the warning signs and prepare yourself. Trust me. You really don’t wanna miss this step. _

The thing with the Apocalypse, notably with a big A, is that, even if you can see the warning signs, you just never really expect it.

Well, most people ignore them anyway, because even if they saw thousands and thousands of movies about all the different apocalypses possible, even if they read as many books about it, no one really thinks for more than a second that it’s going to happen while they’re alive. No one wants to be part of the apocalypse. Therefore, it’s just better to reason that the apocalypse was simply something concrete but so ungodly far into the future that it wasn’t that important to fear currently.

Chan was one of those people, not too long ago. After all, he had other things to worry about. Who cares about a possible disaster when you have stuff like food to worry about? Or work? Or the daunting question of “how to succeed in life when you’re gay, living in Korea with your wonderful, perfect partner, but still very much a boy in this country?” Also, questioning your entire existence and weird life choices that put you in this situation in the first place surely didn’t help.

In short, Chan was a young adult living in a country that doesn’t accept his sexuality and his boyfriend very much, when he could have stayed in Australia, the place he was born in, but decided not to because of a job opportunity. _ A stupid job opportunity _. And then his boyfriend, the human embodiment of perfection called Lee Felix, a man who acted as much as he looked like an angel the world didn’t deserve, followed him here. For love and everything right on this planet. 

Nonetheless, life wasn’t so bad. Busan was a beautiful place, near the sea, lots of seafood, and God only knows how much Chan loved seafood - every kind of food really. The weather was nice, even though the constant humidity made his natural curly black hair a hell to tame, and the sea reminded him of his lost country. Really, except for the occasional typhoons and overall lousy weather, Busan was the perfect place to live in, at least to him, and Felix. Felix loved Busan. 

Felix was also young, just a year younger than him, also an ethnically Korean Australian, with soft features, a small face, and a pretty smile with even cuter eyes. With his current blond hair, he looked even more angelic than when he met him in college, while he was still an awkward nerd trying to find something nice to do for the rest of his life, a terrifying prospect before Felix. Felix made everything better, with his sweet words, his deep soothing voice, and his natural gentleness when everyone around him gave up on him. Felix was his ray of sunshine in his darkest days, the one he always could count on, the one he swore to protect over everything else.

Felix was his everything.

To conclude, Chan basically had a lot to worry about, and an eventual apocalypse? Not happening, nope, not in his already hectic life, thank you very much world, he didn’t need that right now. Especially since working as an English teacher was a very busy job, and right now, it was almost time for “Suneung,” the Korean SAT. Have you ever been in Korea during this period? If you have, you know how it’s hell for the students, how the whole country is preparing for it as well, and how the day it finally happens, it’s like the nation stops for a few hours. 

And if you’re a teacher like Chan? Well, you must prepare your own students to go through hell, armed with approximative grammar, pre-constructed sentences, and lots, lots of crying.

_ Essential _ crying.

So no, Chan didn’t prepare himself for the apocalypse; he didn’t pay attention to the clear signs nature gave humanity like everyone else. He particularly didn’t listen to his colleague, a man he never really talked to but was loud enough to share his thoughts with everyone on how the end of the world was near and he was going to take refuge soon near his place, and that everyone was welcome if they wanted to come as well. Chan thought he was a lunatic. All of his colleagues thought so too, and the next day, no one saw the young art teacher anymore, he was gone.

Chan would regret not following this paranoid, but quite cute to be honest, (Chan honestly thought that was why everyone kept with his bullshit for so long,) art teacher. If Chan had followed him that day, then he would have prepared for the harsh event that happened just a week after, and he and Felix would have been safe. They would have been prepared. But then again, no. Like everyone else in this city, in this country, on this planet, he didn’t listen. He didn’t prepare himself for the worst.

Instead, he got a cute and pretty apocalypse knocking at his door.

The day everything went down started as a very normal one.

Chan woke up early in the morning, watched his loved one still sleeping, not in a creepy way obviously, for a few seconds, smiled at his cute face, and got out of bed feeling a bit better about waking up that early. Nothing better than a Felix to wake up nicely before noon. He looked at the crappy apartment he wished they could leave soon, but for that, they needed more money, and more money implied Felix getting a job, and that as well seemed to be something to put in the box “not happening soon.”

They were quite optimistic at first. After all, Felix was charming and hard-working, and even if his Korean wasn’t very good in the beginning, now he could hold a conversation just fine. However, it wasn’t enough to find anything suitable, especially since Felix wanted something related to dancing.

Chan sighed. He didn’t like it, but soon, if Felix wanted to stay in Korea, he would have to try to find something different. It has been nearly a year now, and they’ll have to renew his visa as well. If he didn’t, he'd have to leave. If he left, Chan would be alone. If he left, they both knew Chan would also go, and this won’t do.

So yeah, it meant coming to a compromise. They weren’t happy about it, but it’s not like they had the choice anyways. Sometimes in life, you just can’t work in the field you’re most passionate about. It’s cruel.

But it’s life.

With those thoughts heaving on his mind, Chan managed to serve himself an orange juice with cereal before sitting down loudly on the chair next to their small and pretty messy kitchen table. Too many things to tidy up, but they were too lazy to do anything about it. In this mess were so many bills to pay, so many bad news to drop the mood that they gave up along the way. Chan sometimes wondered how they’d survive if they didn’t have each other, and him his job. He loved his students; he loved teaching. That was a reason why leaving wasn’t a possibility, Chan loved his career too much, and Felix knew this, he knew better than anyone else, maybe even more than Chan. Chan smiled. He truly was perfect.

“What are you smiling about all alone this early in the morning, Chris?” A mumbled voice came out of their bedroom. Chan smiled even more and directed his face towards the new voice, the only voice still calling him by his English name anymore in this country.

“I was just thinking about you; it always puts me in a good mood” The other one sighed, and Chan bet that if it weren’t that early in the morning, he would have rolled his eyes.

“Really, Chris? This early in the morning?” 

Chan chuckled. “Of course, there’s no hour in the day that I won’t be happy if you’re with me,” He answered. Felix groaned at this, but Chan didn’t miss the little pleased smile on his lips and the happy glint in his eyes.

“You’re cheesy, Chris; I hope you’re not teaching your students how to say those things,” He replied, still smiling.

“Hmmm, should I? After all, I got you with those cheesy words,” Felix answered immediately. “Nope, you got me out of playing this wonderful piano you used to have at home while promising to write me a song one day. Which you never did, by the way. I’m still waiting.” Chan cringed a bit at that; he used to be very awkward in his first year of college. So much material Felix could use against him, his weak attempts at flirting were one of them. Finally, Felix laughed for real at seeing Chan’s face this time.

“Come on.” He said, still chucking. “You don’t wanna keep your students waiting, put some clothes on.” And who was Chan to not comply with those words.

And that’s how their routine ended. Chan left for work, of course not without a goodbye kiss, they both loved them too much to forget, then Felix left as well to go job hunting and then shopping, or see-sighting, or whatever he was doing when it wasn’t those things, really, Chan didn’t keep up with everything most of the time. He just knew that Felix’s circle of friends tended to be a bit wider than his own as well, which wasn’t that much of an accomplishment, considering his circle of friends consisted of Felix, if he counted, and his school janitor who was a nice old lady who gave him helpful tips on how to survive company dinners.

However, on this day, the routine got interrupted.

Chan never forgot. He could never forget even if he wished for it.

11/04/20XX.

Chan never forgets this date.

On this day, while he was near the door of their apartment, ready to get out, Felix smiled at him. He shuffled closer, ready to kiss him goodbye, when he felt it for the first time, the ground shaking violently under him, Felix falling into his arms instantly, destabilized by the violent movement under his feet. He remembers being confused, wondering what was happening, and not having enough time to realize what was going on before hearing it. 

A strident sound, so loud Chan couldn’t help but reach for his ears instinctively.

A siren.

Alarmed, he directed his eyes towards his window, the one with a direct view in the direction of the sea, even if it was still pretty far away, one of the only good things he liked about this flat. Yet, on this day, the sea became a curse.

He immediately saw it, the immense wave coming their way.

He looked at Felix once again and saw the horror on his face. He looked once again at the window.

They say it’s in the moments you think you’re going to die you reflect the most on your life, about what you regret the most, what your most significant remorse is. To who you should have said, “I love you” more often.

But Chan? No. Chan didn’t think about anything like that. In fact, he didn’t think much at all.

No. There was only one thing coming into his mind.

“Well,” Felix looked at him once again, his eyes still wide open. Chan grabbed his hand firmly.

“Shit.”

He ran.


	2. Step 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo it's been a week already! Thanks to everyone who commented and gave kudos, it means a lot to me ^^. I wasn't feeling that well this week so chapter 2 isn't written yet, but don't worry, I'll do it for next week! 
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy Chan trying to survive the apocalypse while doing everything that is not recommended to do so. Enjoy!

_ Step 1: If you didn’t notice the significant warning signs before the apocalypse arrives, don’t worry it happens to the best of us, then your best course of action is NOT to panic, think about your situation for a few seconds and THEN act. It’ll make your chances of surviving higher; a clear mind can help you stay out of danger. I repeat, please do NOT panic. _

Chan was panicking.

He was running out of his apartment. Still, his hand grabbing Felix’s one firmly, not sure where to go but the need to just go higher, higher and higher and to do it fast, in the hallway of his shabby flat, people were screaming and taking the stairs to go more quickly to the roof of the building, the screams and the siren, still present, still ringing in his head was giving him an headache, and if it wasn’t by the firm warmth still gripping his left hand, Chan knew he would have lost it, panic and so many questions dancing in his head at the same time, so many things to think about.

And so little time to do so. Chan knew that if he didn’t do something now, seeing the ear-piercing crowd walking over each other in the small stairs leading to the roof, they'd not make it in time. Felix's hand felt like an anvil, heavy and full of responsibilities, but also firmly here, not budging anytime soon.

Chan didn’t want this hand to go away, took away from him by the wave coming near them. All those thoughts were happening in less than a few seconds after they left their flat, and it was time to do something before they eventually died suffocated by water. Therefore, Chan made a decision. A stupid decision, but the only one he could think about to save them right now.

“We’re gonna take the elevator now.” And Felix might have said something about that, but they didn’t have time. 

It was stupid; the elevator was slow, the lift might not come near the roof soon enough, but between this and taking the overcrowded stairs? He’ll take the elevator. So, he rushed to its doors.

Luckily for them, the elevator was already at their floor, which was also very high, not that far away from the roof, he guessed sarcastically that being poor at least helped them in these kinds of situations, so they jumped into the lift shaft and pressed the last floor button as soon as they got into it, Chan took one last look at the people on the stairs, people he saw every day, just turning into a mass of noisy flesh of faces he couldn’t even recognize. He saw some of them turning their heads towards them, but it was too late, the doors of the elevator were already closing themselves. Chan wondered for a second if he made the right decision if he didn’t just condemn Felix to his doom.

However, it was too late to think of that.

The elevator started going up.

_♪I'm on that elevator, As you can see, it's going down. Actually, it's not, let me turn that b*tch around_ _They say it's going down, I say it's going up, stupid♪_

If Chan weren’t that worried about you know, dying, he would probably have wondered who the fuck oversaw the elevator’s music in their building, and perhaps try to get their number for forming a new friendship. However, life being what it was, he felt too many things at once, and not any at the same time, it was a weird feeling. These few seconds in the elevator felt like an eternity, an eternity in which he finally felt like he could ask himself the big question, the one overpowering all the others in his mind.

_ What the fuck is happening? _

Because really. It was a regular morning, not ONE new outlet said anything about bad weather, much less not about a freaking tsunami and- oh god, a tsunami was coming their way. He finally said it. Sure, just in his mind, but he finally admitted it. A tsunami. The big fucking wave that can go up to thirty meters tall. Coming their ways, in probably just a minute or so. He left his apartment only two minutes ago, and it already felt like an entire lifetime away. Chan regretted not having paid more attention to the safety guide at his school in case those things happened.

He just didn’t understand. Everything happened so fast. Things like this, they take some time before hitting usually, so why? What was different this time? He couldn’t understand, and his head was spinning, he couldn’t understand what went wrong, and did he take the best decision possible for them? For Felix? Will they survive if they get on the roof? Should they have gone outside the building? What if they just can’t get out after this? What if the building crashed?

What if the wave is higher than their eighty meters tall building? What if something almost impossible became possible?

What if-

“Chris,” a soft voice called him out of his head, putting back to reality, he turned his head, dazed to Felix. Sweet Felix, who was scared out of his mind, he could feel it through the shaking of his hand, but still looked at him with the most soothing expression he could muster, smiling, even though it was a bit shaky, gently “We’re almost there.” A pause. “It’s…It’s okay, we gonna get through this alright, whatever it is, we always do.”

With just that, just those simple words pronounced by Felix, Chan came back to reality. Because whatever was going on, whatever was happening outside, Felix was the one he should care the most about. Whatever it was, he’ll survive this.

It was a promise. To himself, to the world, and a silent one to Felix. He’ll survive. They’ll survive, together. Even if he has to jump out of this building, also if he had to swim through a tsunami, Chan will never let go of this hand, he’ll never let anything happen to him.

They’ll survive. It was okay.

Chan smiled back him, more confidently this time, the thumb of his left hand soothing the shakes of Felix’s one with a touch, as to tell him to relax, that it was fine. And instantly, the shakes stopped, and Felix smiled, felt a bit more real. It was okay. Whatever happens, they’ll be fine.

The elevator stopped with a ding.

_ ♪You ain't read the headline I'm so dope I might get fed t-♪ _

The doors started opening themselves. Chan took a big breath. The outside world noises coming back as well, the screams, less present this time, but still as many people in sight as in the lower floors, almost blocking the stairs leading to the door of the rooftop. Almost. Chan didn’t hesitate.

Still firmly grabbing Felix’s hand, a bit harder than before, he ran through the mass, engulfing himself, pushing through the bodies, putting Felix against his chest, first, and then started to move, blocking the sounds of the crowd, acting as if they were just obstacles, nothing else.

Later, when Felix is a bit safer, he’ll let himself be guilty about it, he’ll allow himself to feel the shame of not caring for his fellow human beings, but right now, nothing, no feelings.

Because as much as Chan loved humanity, not all humans were equals in his eyes, not all lives. So for a while, he stopped caring. He pushed, climb the stairs restlessly, bear the suffocating feeling of the mob, kept pushing Felix gently towards the exit, kept his hand in his own, convincing himself it was worth it. It felt once again like an eternity.

A small eternity, because soon enough, the exit came, and Felix pushed himself out of the crowd, dragging Chan with him on the rooftop. Then, he got no time to rest, because they had to get away from the door as fast as possible if they didn’t want to get stepped on or screamed at, so they ran blindly towards the opposite side of the door, not caring about the other people already here, or what they could finally see here.

Or why, except for the siren still ringing, everything, everyone was so silent, but soon they had to, soon they had to pay attention to their surroundings. Chan didn’t have enough time to think “we made it” before he saw it, the thing that was threatening their lives.

The wave. The gigantic monster coming their way. Chan opened his eyes wide. Something was wrong.

The wave. The wave was high. Higher than it was supposed to be, way higher, and Chan couldn’t understand once again, why. It was imposing, and it felt like doom. And the worst part was that it kept getting higher the closer it got from the coast. Chan and Felix's building were far away from it, but they could see it clearly, and the wave kept getting closer and closer, higher, and higher.

Chan never felt more like a bird in a cage, trapped, with no way out, waiting for his fate to be decided for him because he couldn’t do anything right except to wait. It was too late to go back and try to run away now. He just hoped they were high enough that the landlord actually did their job and made sure the building was secure. It should hit soon now. Just a few minutes. Just a few seconds. Just in a moment. And the only thing they could do was wait, watching, waiting, fearing.

Felix got closer to him, putting his weight on him, hugging him. He hugged back, silently, still watching.

“I heard that Hallassan erupted.” Chan snapped out of his morbid contemplation at the foreign voice talking to them. It was a petite old lady, with messy white hair, as if she was taking a shower when the siren ringed and she got out of it as fast as possible, a face time didn’t spare, with so many wrinkles, so deep in her skin Chan could count them easily if he wanted. She was in her pajamas, and old overused washed out green robe which looked too light for the season, and her slippers on. However, it was her empty eyes looking at the wave Chan noticed the most.

Confused, he frowned and asked back hesitantly, “I’m sorry?” The old lady didn’t budge.

“Hallassan. The volcano on Jeju island. It erupted an hour ago, apparently.” The wave was getting closer. She paused. “Badly. Out of nowhere.” She looked back at him this time, intensely, “Not many people survived if what I heard is correct.” Chan wasn’t sure what he was supposed to think about it, but apparently, Felix got something out of this, if the wide eyes were anything to go by.

The wave was almost hitting the shore.

“Most of my family left Busan recently.” She continued, “They wanted something more natural, closer to nature, and all of that, to raise their son, they told me as if Busan’s air wasn’t good enough,” she laughed, but it sounded bitter, sad. “I was upset, you know. All of my family grew up here. A true Busan family, never left, never wanted to. It was as if my own daughter told me what I gave her wasn’t enough. When me and my poor husband, bless his soul, worked so hard for her, for her future. But it wasn’t enough. When they left, I never wanted to talk to them again.” She chuckled, “How stupid. You can be old like me and none the wiser.” The old lady looked at how Felix was hugging Chan at how they never let their hands go from each other. Not disgusted, not happy either, just looking, still with empty eyes.

“My family,” She said, “My family is probably dead now. Jeju really is a beautiful island. I hope their last view was as good as I remember.” The wave hit the shore; the ground started to roar once again.

Chan wasn’t sure what to think, what to feel about this story. Sorrow was the first thing going through his body, but wonder was a vast one as well. For two reasons, one a volcano erupted almost at the same time Busan was about to become the new Atlantic, it couldn’t be a coincidence, and it made him afraid once again of what was happening around the world right now. Two, and most importantly;

“Why are you telling us this?” The old lady looked at his face for a second, then go back to the wave approaching, menacing, “well,” she finally answered, “I just thought you both were lucky to die with someone you love, contrary to me, I guess.”

“You think we’re going to die?” She laughed this time, loudly, “You think we will not, young man? The Earth clearly doesn’t want us on her anymore.” And Chan looked back once again. The siren stopped.

The wave was coming.

“Felix.” Felix looked up, “Listen to me. Let go of my hand and grasp my waist. If the wave gets to us, be sure not to let go, okay?” He nodded. “Good,” he breathed out. Then, he started to attach both of his hands firmly on the barrier at the end of the rooftop.

“Old lady,” he started again, she scoffed at this, an “I’m not that old” coming out of her mouth, more a habit than anything else at this point. “I don’t care if the Earth doesn’t want us anymore on her head.” He paused. “I’ll be sure to be a parasite on her body until the day I die of old age, so don’t worry.” He smiled for the first time since everything started.

“We’ll survive.” He watched the older woman, who didn’t look very impressed by his courage, and then at Felix, who was just watching him lovingly, and it was enough. Chan looked back at sea.

The wave started to curl, then fall down, slowly, or maybe that was just how Chan saw it, until it’s strength crushed the road and the smaller buildings under her, strongly, powerfully. Chan wondered for a second how many people were still there, powerless, but the thought was fast to be erased because the wave was coming their way. Chan hung onto the barrier, even more, his knuckles turning whiter under pressure.

Then, suddenly, he felt the building trembling under him, Felix hugging him even harder, the wave was hitting it full force, and Chan felt afraid the construction was going to break under the pressure the water was putting it through, but strangely it wasn’t collapsing. Chan sighed in relief. It was okay. Nothing too bad happened. They were alive, they were fine. They now just needed to wait for the wave to recede and go back into the sea where it belongs, then he’ll try to see if some of their stuff was fine and go the fuck away from here, they had an inflatable mattress, and sure it wasn’t, maybe the best solution but-

His train of thought was interrupted by the old lady cackling at him, “First tsunami young man?” He looked back at her and nodded slowly, not understanding what she meant, she smirked and said “Then a tip for you, the first wave is never the biggest” She then pointed the shore once again when an ever-bigger wall of water was coming, and Chan cursed. Loudly. The woman laughed even more at this.

“Told you, dear, we are not going to survive this, you might want to kiss your boyfriend one last time, no one here would care enough to tell you how disgusting you are for loving a boy. Curiously, not many people care about those things in the face of death.”

Chan looked at the man, still gripping his waist as his life depended on it, who looked back at him, features unsure but eyes firm.

“No.” Then he turned his head to face the old lady’s, looking straight into her eyes. “We’re gonna survive this. And when we do, we’ll kiss. We promised.” The lady just rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, something about young people being too confident and too brave if they thought they could defy and win against nature.

“Well, I warned you. Don’t be mad at me when you see each other in the afterlife” She sighed. “But…” She then looked at the wall of water, getting closer and closer, her eyes more animated than before.

“But if you survive, if you can live through everything that is going to happen after this because believe me, it’s not the end of this, then try, just try to make this city a bit of what it was before.” She then looked at the sky, still blue, still peaceful, full of life. For still how much time, Chan wondered, but for now, what was happening on earth and in the ocean wasn’t affecting it.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” She smiled.

It is, Chan thought.

But he didn’t have enough time to reply before the wave started to crash once again on itself. However, this time, Chan saw the flood coming their way. And he saw, with much horror, how high it was. This time yes, this time, it was going over the rooftop. Just a few seconds left.

_ 5… _

Chan looked at the entry of the roof and wondered if he should stay indoors, maybe not being high enough, but still protected by the walls of the building.

_ 4… _

Chan looked at the other people on the rooftop, the ones he didn’t pay much attention to until now; he saw on their faces the lack of hope and how resigned they were to die, right now, right here. In no one’s eyes, he saw a glint of hope, a glimmer of anything. It was crowded here, but not with humans, but bodies whose souls already left.

_ 3… _

Chan looked at the grandma who lost her family in Jeju. He wondered if Felix died like this if he would end up like her, him who had no one except him, if he would end up with dead eyes and no reason to live anymore, ready to confront his death and join him in the afterlife.

_ 2… _

Chan looked at the wave crashing the buildings around them so fast, so close. Nature was a scary thing, he thought. Nonetheless, Chan was ready to fight it, for Felix, for himself. He wondered if the building was going to fall this time.

_ 1… _

But most importantly, Chan looked at Felix. He wanted to kiss him, he still didn’t have his goodbye kiss after all, but getting one right now would feel like a real goodbye, and they both didn’t want that. Chan also wanted to caress his cheek and put his hand in his hair, telling him all was going to be okay, that Chan was going to take care of this, but Chan couldn’t because doing that meant letting the barrier go and right now, it was probably their only chance of survival. So, he just murmured a soft “it’s okay” into his ear before gripping the barrier even harder.

_ 0 _

Chan didn’t have time to anticipate the wave before it hit him like a truck. His whole body was swallowed entirely by the mass of water, his mouth and nose inhaling so much water at once, making it impossible for him to stop the flow into his body, cold water filling his lungs instantly, causing him to suffocate. He pondered for a second if Felix could escape this fate, his face buried deeply into Chan’s chest, but the thought was fast gone, as he had other things to worry about, breathing.

He tried to keep his feet on the ground. Still, the pressure made it impossible, however he didn’t let go of the barrier, conscient that if he did, it was over for both of them, the flood would carry them away, drowning them with the rest of the city, so Chan fought the pain in his knuckles, the coldness of his body, concentrating more on the heaviness of Felix’s, reassuring himself that he was still there, attached to him.

Death was lurking around the corner; they needed to breathe soon, so Chan did something stupid, but necessary once again, he left one hand out of the barrier and put it high over his head, trying to feel if the surface was close or far away. For a few seconds, Chan felt nothing out of numbness, but soon, he felt the cold breath on his palm and smiled; they had a chance to survive.

Suck it, old lady.

Chan put back immediately his hand on the barrier; he could already feel his other one letting it out. Opening his eyes wasn’t an option; the pressure will destroy his eyesight within seconds, so now, they only had two choices.

One: waiting for the wave to calm down, it should be soon enough, of course not enough to make the wave settles down but enough to not feel like letting go will make their bodies go down with the tide, they’ll maybe not be able to stay on the ground, but they’ll be able to swim to catch their breath, and go to another building, one higher, and put their feet on something grounded.

Two: Letting go now, hoping for the best.

Chan wasn’t a fan of either idea, because the water was already filling his lungs, meaning that soon, he’ll need air before he starts to slip into unconsciousness, same for Felix. But he didn’t have a choice. They had to wait. So, Chan concentrated on keeping the small amount of oxygen in his body, trying to find the perfect moment to let go and swim away.

It felt like an eternity when it probably wasn’t more than two minutes before Chan felt like he could let go. Two minutes where he felt like he could die at any moment but kept focused on Felix kept focused on the fact Chan didn’t let go, so it meant he was still conscious. And then finally, he let go of the barrier, put his hand on Felix’s back, and swam as fast as possible to the close surface.

And fast enough, he was emerging from the underwater nightmare that was those few minutes, taking a deep, relieved breath, pushing Felix higher with hand, making him let go of his waist for him to be able to breathe as well.

Seeing Felix emerge as well, breathing forcefully, scoffing water out of lungs, but still very much alive, made his heartbeat once again, a smile creeping on his face now that this part of this nightmare was over.

He did it. They were alive, they survived.

He looked into Felix’s unbelieving eyes as if he didn’t expect to live after all of this and put his own hand back into Felix’s one. He wanted to celebrate, but they had no time to do so.

“We have to find a taller building soon. We don’t know if another wave is going to come,” He said. Also, he started to feel the tiredness in his body; if he didn’t catch his breath soon, the exhaustion would make it impossible to move. Felix nodded a grim expression on his face, conscient on how the next minutes were decisive for their survival and started to look around.

Going undertow seemed a bit suicidal, so they decided to let themselves be carried away by the wave, keeping their energy at the same time, never letting go of each other’s hand as well.

Soon enough they saw tall buildings on their way, luckily enough one was directly on their trajectory, Chan looked at Felix who nodded, and readily, he caught the rail of the balcony with his other hand, instructing Felix to do as well, and then pushed him onto the balcony.

Once there, Felix immediately took Chan’s hand into his own and pushed into the ground as well, exhausted, Chan let himself fall down onto Felix and the puddle of water under them, it seemed like the flat they got on was partially flooded but whatever, for now, they needed to catch their breath. And kiss.

Which they did. Violently even. A bit too violently. Yup. Chan could feel his lips bleeding now. Some damn canine he had there Felix, but it wasn’t like he minded, surviving a tsunami could turn you a bit needy for human contacts apparently.

“Chris…” Felix whispered in his lips. “Hmm?” He hesitated for a bit and then said, “We need to get naked.” And okay, wow.

“I’m sorry?” He asked, a bit dumbfounded, didn’t expect that just after dying, sure, in a while, where they were safe, why not, but right now seemed a bit inappropriate, you know. Like, voyeurs and stuff like that. Also, the threat of the wave coming back. All of this. Maybe it was a kink? Was the world adapting to Felix’s particular “intercourse-after-surviving-a-tsunami-and-almost-drowning” kink? Because it was a bit too much in his opinion for just a kin-

“Hypothermia,” Felix rolled his eyes at Chan’s expression. “We need to change clothes and dry before we die of hypothermia, which I would find very stupid after surviving this, don’t you agree?” And yes, Chan agreed very much so.

So they got up, with difficulty, Chan still didn’t feel much strength in his legs, but they had to do it. And with a rock founded on the balcony, probably one of the things the wave took with it, broke the window of the gallery and got in.

The apartment was lovely, much more beautiful than their own, that’s for sure, and Chan would have very much liked living in a place like this. It also felt way too expensive for their not very high salaries. But whatever, no one was here so he could pretend for a minute or two while searching for clothes in the bedroom. And true enough, they only found clothes way too expensive as well, which they still decided to put on after drying themselves with the towels they found in the bathroom. Even though their feet were still soaked, due to the fact that the apartment was a bit flooded, it was okay. They decided to take a backpack they found in the bedroom as well and took an extra towel, some food they found in the empty apartment kitchen, and a bottle of water. Chan thought with a bad feeling that they'd probably need it.

Once their new shoes were put on, such cute shoes, Chan thought, much more comfortable that whatever he wore before, such a sweet paradise, they decided to once again go on the rooftop of their new building.

This time, the trip was silent, as if everyone left the place a long time ago. Chan wondered if there were some rich people privileges, they clearly didn’t have that made them leave Busan before everyone else. But it was ridiculous; the wave hit so fast, nothing could have warned them.

Right?

With this very daunting though in his mind, they finally arrived at the top of the tower, still seeing no one around. There, they finally decided to sit down, watching the horizon. What they saw was the setting of desolation.

And for the first time, the word describing their situation left their lips.

“It feels like the apocalypse,” Felix muttered, shivering. And indeed, he was right. Chan couldn’t see most of Busan, just a few towers here and there popping out of the water, but what he could see were water flowing around and the ocean. And Chan wondered if they were the only survivors of this carnage, the thought was full of anxiousness.

“Will it go down? The water,” He asked back to one in particular. But Felix still answered. “Usually, it takes a few hours before the waves settle down during a tsunami and a few days for the water to go back in the ocean. But…Right now, I don’t know. Probably, but not entirely. A part of Busan will keep being underwater.”

Chan hummed in agreement. Still silent. He kept looking at the scene around him, questioning what they will do now. He had no idea.

“Hey, Chris,” Felix said after a while, breaking the silence. “What?”

“Does it mean we will not have to pay the bills for next month?”

\---

_ “BREAKING NEWS: Good morning Korea, reporter Seo Changbin talking. A terrifying Tsunami hit Busan today; at the same time, Jeju's Hallassan erupted for the first time in a thousand years. Both events were unpredicted, quick, and the chances of survivors are very slim. The competent authorities are trying their best to reach anyone who could have survived. _

_ Meanwhile, in Seoul, the city is preparing itself for a massive thunderstorm. The specialists recommend to everyone to stay at home. Do not move. _

_ Multiple accidents of this scale have been reported around the world, it seems it is not the end, an earthquake destroyed most of Los Angeles, and numerous cities have been flooded. We’re still trying to get reports on other countries. _

_ This might be my last TV retransmission. To everyone in Korea, stay safe. _

_ I’m scared.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments still very much appreciated! You can still go bother me on twitter if you want to talk as well :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like it :D!!! Leave kudos and comments; it's always appreciated ^^. Or you can talk to me on twitter here: https://twitter.com/lalazorachi I try always to answer people!


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